On Saturday, April 10, 2004, at 02:20 PM, WizardMarks wrote:


For the very poor, totally dissed population, refusing to comply is their only power--the power to say no to social constraints. It's not poor upbringing so much as bitterness, bone deep fatigue, and an exercise of the only power available to them.


Generally I agree with Wizard but I think a little more reference is needed on this observation. I do think people litter as a refusal to comply with perceived authority. However, those that choose this demonstration of defiance are well represented in the middle classes. My experience with litterers who come and go from the corner grocery store and who indulge in university student excesses are in the main from the middle class.

My explanation is that our society very broadly has given signals of its acceptance of individuality and satisfying immediate urges. This propensity has gotten us into trouble from time to time but generally speaking, Americans highly value individual freedoms and this occurs across the economic spectrum. Obedience, to the extent that it is connected to things we may feel interfere with our personal freedom, does get rejected. I think littering fits into our broad acceptance of personal freedom and impulse behavior. So rich and poor alike act impulsively while observing if acceptance occurs in their immediate environments (family, neighborhood, peers).

Just this morning a very young man faced me across the intersection near Marcy School, awaiting a red light to change. I was going straight, he was turning left, but before the light changed he began moving his front wheels in the direction of his intent. He was talking on a cell phone and looking forward into blank middle space. So when the light changed, I just sat there as he hit the gas and screeched into a left turn. I did make eye contact to try to let him know that he took an unnecessary chance, but no one was at home. Was that the same as tossing bottles? Yes, I would say so.

It is real tough for me to say teachers have to change this, parents are responsible, television is responsible, or any other one thing. An education effort would help a lot, but it needs to be broad based. The whole city of Minneapolis would need to take on littering as a major campaign and work on it. We would have to do this over a period of time so the "Minneapolis value" of clean streets is broadly accepted.

I'm all for trying, in any case.

Best,

Laura Wittstock
Southeast Minneapolis





Laura Waterman Wittstock
MIGIZI Communications, Inc.
3123 East Lake Street
Minneapolis, MN 55406
612.721.6631 ext 219
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.migizi.org

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